Decrease in TSH Receptor Autoantibodies during Antithyroid Treatment: Relationship with a Long Noncoding Heg RNA and Cdk1 mRNA in Mononuclear Cells

We have previously shown that a long noncoding RNA transcript Heg is negatively correlated with TSH receptor autoantibodies (TRAb) in patients with untreated Graves' disease and with CD14 mRNA in treated patients and controls. Thus patients with high concentrations of Heg RNA have low levels of TRAb or CD14 mRNA, respectively. Here we show that an additional factor, gene expression of Cdk1 in mononuclear cells, is positively related to concentrations of TRAb in patients with untreated Graves' disease. Cdk1 mRNA is very important for regulation of cell cycle activity. It is well known that TRAb decrease significantly during treatment with antithyroid drugs. This decrease during treatment cannot be explained by Heg RNA, which remains unchanged. Cdk1 mRNA decreased significantly during treatment to values below values obtained in normal subjects. Thus both Heg RNA and Cdk1 mRNA may influence the level of TSH receptor autoantibodies but by different mechanisms.